What Monarch Butterflies Teach Us About Business Success

Starting in late August, millions of monarch butterflies migrate from Canada, through the United States, to their winter destination in the oyamel fir forests of central Mexico, a unique mountain habitat. On a recent trip to Mexico, my husband and I visited one of these protected areas where the monarchs “overwinter”. It was an immensely moving and inspiring experience.

By the time we were three-quarters of the way up to the summit of the forested mountain where the monarchs gather, we were amidst millions of butterflies clustering together in orange-coloured colonies on the trees and swarming around us, emitting a delicate, collective fluttering sound. It was simply breathtaking!

When the monarchs arrive in Mexico each year, descendants of the Otomi and Mazahua cultures celebrate with traditional rituals, music and dances. They believe the butterflies bring beauty and prosperity to the region.

Local shaman Margarito Mazahua, says, “Some call it an insect, but to me it is a live creature that teaches us.” In keeping with the shaman’s assertion, I came away from my sojourn with the monarchs having learned some profound teachings. I’d like to share these lessons with you, because they’re relevant to inner mastery and business success.

Lesson #1: Cooperation is a Vital Tool of Success

When you look up at the oyamel trees, you see tangerine-tinted clusters or colonies with, some say, up to 20 million butterflies in each. They huddle together for warmth and to stay alive. For the monarchs, cooperation is crucial to their survival. The same can be said for us humans and, taking it a step further, it could be said that cooperation is vital for our evolution and success.

This may seem like a cliché, trite idea, but for a culture still influenced by the concept of “rugged individualism” or the ego program of separation, we’re all works in progress when it comes to fully embodying the vibration of cooperation.

Essentially, cooperation is all about relationship – with ourselves, with each other and with information. To embody cooperation requires holding a belief in our ability to cooperate with ourselves and with other people and for them to cooperate with us. It requires cooperating with both the intuitive, spiritual laws of business, as well as the linear, man-made laws of business. Emotionally, it requires a willingness to open our hearts and trust.

Lesson #2: We are Creators of Time and in Charge of How We See and Experience It

The monarchs are not limited by the same finite perceptions of time that we have. The butterflies have an instinctual sense of time. At around noon or 1:00 p.m., they know that the air has warmed up sufficiently to venture down the mountain to replenish themselves at their chosen watering hole. Afterwards, they know it’s time to stretch their wings and fly around, and they know when it’s time to huddle back together in the trees. There is always plenty of time to do what they’re instincts guide them to do.

In contrast, our perception of time is governed by a sense of pressure, restriction and lack. Often, we feel victimized and stressed by time and see it as something that’s outside of ourselves and beyond our control. We don’t realize that time and lack of time are concepts created by our own beliefs and emotions.

To embody the monarch’s teachings about time requires a belief that we always have all the time we need and that time is our friend. It requires that we believe everything is unfolding in the right timing for our businesses and that we have the ability to receive our good in right timing. Emotionally, it requires us to relax, detach and surrender.

Lesson #3: Success is Not Something We Have to Strive For – We All Naturally Have the Energy to Succeed

Like everything else in the natural world, the monarchs do not seem to “toil nor spin” or strive in any way. They innately have the energy to succeed, and this is evident from the estimated 5,000 thousand kilometres (3,000 miles) they travel to get to Mexico.

We, also, have an inherent energy to succeed and do not have to “strive”. We can allow ourselves to succeed (not “make” ourselves succeed), by invoking our love of what we’re doing and the energy of service, passion, desire and delight.

In order to embody this teaching, we need to believe we have the energy required to succeed and, emotionally, we must relax and cultivate feelings of “lightness”, joy, fun and play regarding our businesses.

It’s said that when a butterfly flutters its wings, the effects can be felt around the earth and, from my experience with the monarch butterflies in Mexico, I completely believe this. I’m deeply grateful to these exquisite creatures for the blessings and teachings I’ve received from them.

2 Responses to What Monarch Butterflies Teach Us About Business Success

This is great, Mary! Yes, we can ALLOW ourselves to succeed, rather than “make” ourselves succeed. …. Something I am diligently allowing for myself, and, if you ponder it, the world. We ALL have something so amazing to offer… if only we allow.

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Mary C. Davis is a Certified Business Coach, Prosperity Guide and Spiritual Healing Facilitator who helps wellness professionals, coaches, therapists and holistic practitioners attract clients and create prosperous, fulfilling businesses with ease and joy. She is the creator of The Prosperous Healer's Path™, a training and coaching process that integrates inner mastery tools and effective, practical business-building strategies with spiritual truths, values and inner wisdom. Results include an abundance of money, clients and fulfillment.

With more than 20 years of experience in marketing, sales, communications and management, Mary has helped generate over $30 million of revenue for health care and social service organizations. She also has extensive training and experience in professional coaching, metaphysics and spiritual/energy healing modalities.